Here comes yet another web-based company's initial public offering: crowdsourced reviews site Yelp has filed a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that it plans to raise $1m in an IPO.
Not that the company thinks of itself as being worth that paltry amount, of course. Although the Form S-1 states …

dealer was worth $14.7, ... since swelled to $15.3bn.

No thanks to the Yelp IPO. If you are wondering what is wrong with the American economy, look at the Yelp model. Small businesses can’t survive the bogus reviews that are posted by competitors who pose as as “customers”. As a result, firms that cant fight Yelp, are beaten by their model. Dispute a review as a business owner, and Yelp turns off the ability of positive reviewers to ever post on your Yelp page again. This stands in stark contrast to other review sites, which have some vetting protocol to ensure that only actual customers post reviews. Yelp is known for attracting haters of all kinds, negative people who care nothing abut torching a family business, just for the thrill of saying untrue and unkind things. It’s no wonder that they are hemorrhaging money. Buyer beware on the Yelp IPO!